In Flagrante Delicto
by Scription Addict
Summary: Grace and Boyd attend a conference, but it seems to do nothing but frustrate Boyd. Rated m for language and mild sexual references, but nothing graphic. Boyd/Grace.


Hi All, this is just a rather long one shot that I wrote at the weeken, I enjoyed writing it, hope you enjoy reading it. As always your comments are appreciated.

Disclaimer - I do not own waking the dead or it's charaters.

Pairing - Boyd and Grace

Rating - M, some bad language and mild sexual content, M to be safe.

Plot - A conference seems to provide nothing but frustration for Boyd.

**In Flagrante Delicto **

Caught In The Act

Dr Grace Foley pulled her small suitcase behind her, out of the front door where he waited impatiently for her. He took the case from her and lifted it into his boot, where his was already stowed. She then got in the front seat of his immaculate Audi, stashed her hand bag near her feet, and reached behind her for the seat belt. Fortunately, it wasn't a long journey.

He shut the boot and got into the driver's seat, starting the engine and securing his own seat belt.

"You sure you've got everything?" he asked, a slight irritability to his voice already, and they hadn't even started the journey yet.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"So I'm not going to get on the motorway and find out you've left your presentation behind?"

"No, Boyd, I have copies of everything, on paper, memory stick and my laptop, just in case."

"So we can go?"

"Yes, Boyd, we can go."

"Good," he replied, driving away from her house. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

"It's a conference on forensic psychology and geographical profiling, it will be good for both of us."

"Well as long as my room has a mini bar, I'll be happy."

"Is that all you can think of?"

"Grace, you're one of the speakers. Why do I need to travel to Brighton to listen to you speak when I can listen to you in the office?"

"I'm just one of the speakers, you'll be amazed how much you'll learn."

"I'll take your word for it."

"And we get to spend a weekend by the sea, all that sea air will be good for you."

"I don't like the sea air, it'll be cold and probably bloody rain."

"Good to see you being so positive about it."

"What's to be positive about? I could be spending a weekend watching the football and drinking beer with my feet up."

"We both know that you wouldn't, you're a workaholic and you'd spend the weekend in the office working, sober and alone."

"Not necessarily, and anyway, what's this if it's not working?"

"It's a chance to get out of the office. Okay, so you have to listen to some lectures, that's only part of it. You'll still have the evenings free."

"Terrific, Grace, I get to spend my evenings free in Brighton. Woopy doo."

"Remind me again why we had to travel together."

"Because the Met wouldn't pay travelling expenses for two people travelling to and from the same locations on the same day."

"And are you going to moan for the entire journey?"

"I would say it's a distinct possibility."

"Marvellous," she replied whilst reaching into her oversized hand bag and pulling out a leather document holder. Opening it, she started to read through her presentation. She knew she was up first, one of six people speaking at the conference, and although she was used to public speaking and giving presentations, she was glad she was up first and would be able to enjoy the rest of the time as an observer rather than a speaker.

"Please don't tell me you're going to spend the rest of the journey reading through your speech."

"It's not a speech, it's a presentation, and anyway, you don't seem in the mood to make conversation."

"That doesn't mean I want to spend the next couple of hours in silence."

"I don't want to spend the next couple of hours listening to you moan, so I guess we're both going to be disappointed," she replied whilst removing a sweet from her handbag, unwrapping it and putting the sweet in her mouth and the wrapper in the ashtray.

"Don't use the ashtray."

"What? Why not?"

"Because it's just untidy, by the time we get there it'll be full of sweet wrappers, it's like driving with a child."

"Oh for God's sake, Boyd." She removed the wrapper from the ashtray and put it into her bag.

"Thank you."

The rest of the journey was pretty quiet, if they did talk it was usually him moaning or the two of them disagreeing about something. By the time they arrived at the hotel on Brighton seafront, Grace couldn't get out of the car quick enough.

- o0o -

The Grand Hotel in Brighton was famous for many things, not least of which was when it was blown up, in an assassination attempt on the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher. It was in a lovely location, and was a beautiful hotel, with luxurious facilities.

As they had arrived fairly early, and were two of the first to check in, they had a choice of rooms that had been reserved for the conference, and chose to have rooms next to each other. Boyd's choice rather than Grace's, his reasoning being that she could help him back to his room should he be too pissed to find his own way.

Once unpacked, showered and changed, Grace tapped lightly on the door to his room. The conference reception was being held shortly and she thought they should make their way down.

He opened the door wearing a bathrobe, a drink in one hand and a comb in the other.

"We need to get down stairs for the reception, why aren't you ready?"

"Two minutes, Grace, that's all it will take. Come in?" She stepped into his room, and the air was immediately filled with the smell of his expensive toiletries. The bathroom door was open, and he'd obviously just had a shower. The smell was deliciously intoxicating, and she was sure that on any other occasion, she would be well and truly under his spell.

"Do you want a drink?" He enquired, holding his own glass up at her to indicate what he meant.

"No thanks, I don't think it's a good idea being as I have to deliver a presentation to approximately six hundred people in a couple of hours."

"Ah, good point, Dr Foley," he replied, pulling his trousers on whilst still wearing the bathrobe and then turning his back on her whilst he fastened them. He then removed the bathrobe, revealing his broad chest, a slight scattering of hair clearly visible. Grace gulped, trying to subdue the thoughts that were running through her mind faster than Usain Bolt out of the blocks. She turned towards the door to give him some privacy as he continued to dress, tucking his shirt into his trousers, and then putting on his cuff-links.

"What do you think, tie or no tie?" he asked her, noticing that she had turned away from him. "Why are you facing the door?"

"You were getting dressed, I thought I should afford you some privacy."

"Why, Dr Foley, are you blushing?" he said, teasing her, not for one minute thinking she really was.

"Can we just go please?" she asked him, reaching for the door.

"You didn't answer my question."

"No, I'm not blushing!" she replied angrily at him.

"I meant about the tie," he replied.

"What? Oh, um no, no tie," she replied, feeling a little flustered.

Boyd grabbed his suit jacket before downing the remainder of his drink and following her out of the door.

The rest of the afternoon was his worst nightmare, most of it spent in the company of pretentious arseholes who thought they were the leading expert in their particular field, and most of them didn't know a fraction of what Grace did.

The highlight of his afternoon was listening to her give her presentation. Despite her nervousness earlier, she was ever the professional on the rostrum, confident and knowledgeable on the subject of which she was talking.

She frequently answered impromptu questions that were asked by members of the audience. At the end of her presentation, she received a standing ovation.

She joined him for a drink in the bar, glad it was over. Dinner was included in the day's events, and they were expected to attend, after which all of them were free to enjoy what Brighton had to offer, although Boyd was pretty sure that it had very little to offer.

- o0o -

They were given an hour to change for dinner, and this time it was Boyd that was ready first and knocking on Grace's door. She opened the door wearing a great deal more than he had been earlier, and indicated for him to come in.

"How about a drink first?" she asked him.

"Lovely, whatever you're having." Grace poured him a glass of wine from one of the small bottles contained in the mini bar. He raised his glass to hers. "Cheers."

"Cheers," she replied.

They finished their drinks in the room before heading downstairs. "Grace, I need you to do something for me?"

"That sounds ominous. What?"

"Stay with me at dinner. Half these people spend their lives talking out of what they should be sitting on."

"So you want a babysitter to look after you?"

"No, I want the pleasure of a beautiful intelligent woman at my table for dinner, or failing that I'll spend the evening with you. I'm just kidding, obviously."

Grace smiled at his comments. Fortunately there wasn't a seating plan at dinner, and despite the constant attention from people keen to continue discussing elements of her presentation, they were able to sit together. He pulled the chair out for her at the table, ever the gentleman.

"You seem to have a lot of admirers," he said, whilst sitting quickly on the seat next to her before it was occupied by one of the said admirers.

"I think it's the subject, Boyd, not me."

"Why wouldn't it be you?"

She gave him a knowing look in response to his question, and he leant forward and whispered into her ear, "You look lovely, by the way, just in case I forget to tell you later." She again responded with a look rather than words.

After dinner they retired to the hotel bar for a drink, as did the rest of the attendees. It was crowded and hectic, and getting served was almost impossible, on top of which Grace's admirers seemed to have a knack of finding her regardless of where they were, and them occupying her time was annoying him even more than the crowded bar and lack of service.

As she stood on her own for a moment, she felt someone grab her arm and pull her away from the crowded area and into the lobby.

"Let's get out of here for a while," he suggested.

"And go where?"

"I don't know, we're in Brighton, remember? Let's go for a walk along the beach, it's too bloody crowded in here"

"What, in these shoes?"

"I wasn't planning on wearing those shoes."

"Very funny."

"It's the beach, Grace, you can take your shoes off and dip your feet in the sea."

"It's September, Boyd, hardly paddling weather, and it's Brighton, it's all stones."

"So don't paddle, just bloody walk," he replied whilst grabbing her by the hand and pulling her out of the hotel and onto the street.

- o0o -

It was still early evening, 8pm to be exact, and although the light was fading, it wasn't completely dark. The lights along the promenade were illuminating the sea front and a range of cafés and bars were still open, tables on the pavements allowing people to sit outside and enjoy the cool September air.

Boyd directed them towards the pier, the lights of the attractions visible from quite a distance. When they got to the next set of steps that led down to the beach, he walked down them, turning and taking Grace's hand as he got to the bottom, to help her down.

She stumbled slightly on the stones as she stepped down, Boyd put his arms out to steady her.

"You okay?" he asked as she regained her balance.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

They walked to a nearby wall that was low enough to sit on, Boyd picked up a stone and tried to skim it into the sea like a child.

"You're rubbish at that," she replied with a touch of humour.

"Oh and you're an expert, are you?"

"Better than you clearly," she replied, skimming the stone into the sea and counting it as it bounced four times.

She picked up another flat stone from the pebbly beach, and as she went to throw it, Boyd tried to grab it from her hand, again causing her to almost over balance so that he had to steady her.

"Your arms are freezing. Here have my jacket." He took off his suit jacket and placed it around her shoulders. She turned towards him as he pulled it around her, and as she looked up at him in the failing light, he leant forward and kissed her gently.

"I think you've had too much to drink," she said, pulling away from him.

"I'm sober enough to know how beautiful you look tonight."

"It's the outfit, Boyd."

"A beautiful woman looks good in anything," he replied, placing his hand on her face.

She leant into his touch and revelled in the feeling of his hand against her skin. He again leant forward and kissed her, a little more enthusiasm to it this time. They had been stood kissing on the beach for some time when Grace momentarily pulled back from him, his hands on her waist hers on his shoulders. He was just about to lean in for another kiss when a voice spoke from behind him

"Dr Foley."

Grace immediately pulled away from him, whilst Boyd muttered something unrepeatable under his breath.

"Hi Martin," Grace said to the man now approaching them.

It was another of those bloody men from the hotel, the ones who refused to give him any time alone with her, and even now, as he had held her in his arms, and had at long last taken the initiative to kiss her, one of them had to come and interrupt him. He'd only come to this bloody conference for the chance of spending some time alone with her, something that no matter how hard, he tried, he couldn't seem to manage in London.

He stood in silent annoyance as Grace exchanged pleasantries with the man, unable to get rid of him no matter how many times she used the words, "Well thanks then," and "I'll catch up with you later," he still seemed to have another question. In the end, Boyd got rid of him.

"Well if you'll excuse us, Martin, we need to be somewhere," he said pulling at her hand.

"Oh right, well, uh okay, I'll see you tomorrow then," the man replied, quite put out.

Boyd kept hold of Grace's hand and pulled her along the beach until they were beneath the pier where he pinned her up against one of the supporting posts, and started to kiss her again. This time he had an urgency about him, his hands travelling up and down her body as his tongue flitted in and out of her acceptant mouth. Every now and again, his lips would pull back, leaving his tongue gently searching her mouth until his lips found hers again.

He carefully looked around them to make sure they were alone, before his hands found the hem of her top, easily finding their way underneath it. She thought about stopping him, but like him she could see they were alone. His hands felt cold against the warm skin beneath her top, and she shivered slightly.

"Are you cold?" His words were soft and caring.

"No, but your hands are."

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No, but I think we should."

"Just a few more minutes, and then we'll head back to the hotel."

She nodded her head in agreement, and stretched up to kiss him again, her hand ran down his stomach and down to the outside of his trousers, causing him to take a sharp breath in.

"Oh God Grace!" he exclaimed as she continued to trace the outline of the semi-hard arousal that was growing beneath his trousers. "If you don't stop that now, we won't make it back to the hotel."

Grace laughed lightly into his ear, and moved her hand to his backside, gently squeezing him.

All of a sudden a stone flew over their heads and hit another post close to where they were.

"What the fuck was that?" he asked, turning around quickly and standing in front of Grace. A gang of youths stood nearby to them.

"You dirty old man!" one of them shouted at him. "How did you get your mobility scooter on the beach, Grandpa?" They all laughed as the mouthy one at the front continued to shout insults.

"You want me to score you some Viagra, old man?"

"Yeah, you've had your fun, now why don't you piss off, eh?" Boyd replied, trying to stay calm despite being totally embarrassed by what was happening. Fortunately, the darkness was covering his current state of arousal.

"Why don't you piss off, old man? And take your Nan with you." Again the others fell about laughing at the insults made by the obvious leader of their small gang. "Tell me something, does she take her teeth out when she noshes you off?"

"I'm a police officer," he replied, reaching for his warrant card, and eventually producing it from the jacket that Grace was wearing. "So why don't you run along and buy yourself a new joke book, before I lose my temper and arrest you."

"You think that bothers me, you fucking old perv, you're the one getting your rocks off in public."

At this point Grace grabbed Boyd's arm, knowing full well he wouldn't keep his cool for much longer. "Let's just go back to the hotel," she said to him.

"Hotel, what is she, some OAP hooker? You got one of those hotels you rent by the hour?"

"You fucking little shit!" Boyd shouted and moved towards the gang, who at that point separated and ran off, leaving Grace and Boyd alone again. "You okay Grace?"

"Yeah I'm fine, they were just kids. Let's go back to the hotel, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

- o0o -

Back at the hotel they walked back to the rooms, Grace's room was before Boyd's. He stopped by the door, and looked up and down the hotel corridor to see if they were alone, which they were. He kissed her, pushing her against her hotel room door.

"Are you going to invite me in?"

"I think we've both had enough excitement for one evening, don't you?"

"Actually no, I don't."

"Boyd, this hotel is full of people who we work with everyday. If someone sees us, it will be all over the Met by next week."

"Who's going to see us, Grace, if we go into your room? No one's around."

Grace put her hands behind her and opened her bedroom door, walking into the room backwards. "Goodnight, Boyd," she said, closing the door on him.

Grace showered and changed into her night things quickly. She picked up the itinerary for the following day's lectures, they had all day tomorrow and were going home on Sunday. Eve said she might try and join them for the Saturday lectures as a friend of hers was giving a presentation, but she couldn't say for definite. Grace got into bed and picked up her mobile phone to set the alarm for the morning. She straight away noticed a message from Boyd that he must of sent whilst she was in the shower.

**Msg from Boyd - I want you **

**Reply - Go to sleep,**** Boyd.**

**Msg from Boyd – You know what the difference is between light and hard,**** Grace?**

**Reply - Nope, but I'm sure you're going to tell me.**

**Msg from Boyd – You can get to sleep with the light on! **

**Reply – Very funny.**

**Msg from Boyd – I'm not going to get much sleep, come on let me in, just for a few minutes, a kiss good night.**

**Reply – Just a couple of minutes,**** Boyd**

He was at her door that quickly she'd have sworn he was standing outside texting her. She let him in and sat back on the bed. He joined her and instantly devoured her lips with his own.

Within a few minutes, they were both half dressed and laying on top of her luxurious king sized bed, hands literally scratching at each other. Boyd undid his trousers and moved her hand to the inside of his shorts, breathing heavily as she caressed and stroked him. He moved his mouth to her breast, sucking and gently grazing her nipple with his teeth. Just then there was a knock at the door.

"I don't believe this, who the fuck is that?" he asked irately.

"I don't know, I'm not expecting anyone."

"Don't answer it."

"I have to answer it, it might be important. Go and wait in the bathroom."

Boyd pulled up his trousers carefully and grabbed the rest of his clothes, heading into the bathroom so Grace could open the door.

"Hi Grace, I hope you don't mind, reception told me what room you were in. I said I was your daughter, so they let me come up."

"Eve, what a lovely surprise," she blatantly lied, very aware that a semi-clothed and fully aroused Boyd was hiding in her bathroom. She had no idea how they were going to get out of this.

"I was going to book in, but this place is fully booked because of the conference, so I'm going to have to get a room somewhere else, and come back for the presentations tomorrow. I just wanted to let you know that I was around." Eve still stood in the doorway, waiting to be invited in.

"Come in? Would you like a drink before you go." she asked out of politeness but prayed she would say no.

"Yeah that would be lovely, red wine if you have any."

"Yep, I think we can manage that."

Grace poured them both a glass of wine, and sat down on the bed whilst Eve sat on the nearby arm chair. As Grace tried to relax, she suddenly noticed Boyd's cuff-links on the bedside table, and his shoes by the bed, something she was sure that a person of Eve's ability would have noticed already. As she looked at her younger colleague, she noticed that she was finding it difficult to make eye contact, and had a small smirk that she was desperately trying, but failing miserably, to hide.

"So, how was your presentation?"

"It went really well, I think even Boyd found it interesting."

"Ah Boyd, how is our esteemed leader finding life south of London?"

"He's coping very well."

"He hasn't spontaneously combusted at being so far south then."

"Not yet," she replied, knowing full well that he might if she didn't get him out of her bathroom soon.

Just then the bathroom door opened and Boyd walked out wearing a bathrobe. "Thanks for that, Grace. Eve, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you, Boyd."

"The shower in my room is screwed. Grace was kind enough to allow me to use hers."

"Ah I see, well I was just passing. The hotel's fully booked so I need to find a room elsewhere for the night. I just thought I'd let Grace know I was in town as it were."

"Ah, well I'll say goodnight to you both, and see you tomorrow." He smiled and left, picking up his shoes on the way, but leaving his cuff-links, not sure how to explain that they were by Grace's bed.

"Night, Boyd," Eve said, a knowing tone and possibly even a hint of humour to her voice.

"Night," Grace said, knowing full well that Eve was going to grill her once he'd left.

"So, now he's out of the way, how about we crack open a couple more bottles of wine, and you tell me why his underwear is by your bed."

Grace had a look of horror on her face, and instantly looked over the edge of the bed to find no sign of his underwear. She'd fallen for Eve's classic bluff, the fact that she looked an instant admission of guilt. Her cheeks were now most definitely a bright shade of pink.

"Well the wine I can do, anything else is off the menu, I'm afraid."

"Oh come on, Grace, dish the dirt, it's about time someone in the team got lucky, and the fact that it's you two makes it all the sweeter."

"We haven't, as you put it, got lucky, we were just talking."

"The look on your face a few seconds ago would suggest otherwise. I mean, I know as a scientist I only deal with facts, not insinuation, but those cuff-links are a definite fact, as is Boyd getting out of the shower with dry hair. Although you have to give him points for effort, he thought that one up pretty quickly. Grace, I'm happy for you, seriously, you two have spent far too long trying to ignore what you both clearly feel, even a scientist like me can see that."

"See what?"

"That you have feelings for each other. I'll tell you something else, Dr Foley, if a man looked at me the way he looks at you, they could have screamed fire outside that bloody door and I wouldn't have opened it."

Grace laughed with her, and they sat and talked and drank, and Eve eventually slept in Grace's room.

- o0o -

Grace woke the next morning with a pounding headache and a fully clothed forensic pathologist lying in bed next to her.

_Not what I had hoped for, _she thought to herself, remembering her moments of passion with Boyd the night before.

"Oh God, Grace, what the hell did we drink last night?" Eve suddenly asked.

"The contents of the mini bar."

"Fuck, my head is pounding. What time is it?"

"6.30."

"How long before we have to look human again?"

"About an hour, at the most."

"Okay, it's fine, Grace, we're professional women, we can do this, we can get through this with ease." As Eve sat up, the contents of her stomach were like a washing machine on a spin cycle, and she rushed to the bathroom.

"Remember, Eve, we're professional women." As she finished the sentence, she could hear Eve vomiting violently in the bathroom.

Just then Grace's phone bleeped with a text message.

**Msg from Boyd: Are you awake?**

**Reply: Yes, and Eve's still here so don't get any ideas.**

**Msg from Boyd: I was thinking of an early morning swim.**

**Reply: In the sea?**

**Msg from Boyd: No, in the swimming pool downstairs. Want to join me?**

**Reply: Don't think I'm up to it, we had a late night.**

**Msg from Boyd: Should I be jealous?**

**Reply: Don't be juvenile.**

**Msg from Boyd: Why not? It keeps me young. Come for a swim.**

- o0o -**  
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Grace relented and joined him for a swim, after taking something for her headache. The pool was quiet, and Boyd was sat in the jacuzzi waiting for her to join him.

"This I can manage," she replied, sitting in the warm bubbly water.

"See, I told you it was a good idea."

His arms were stretched along the back of the jacuzzi and she purposely sat under his arm, resting her head back on his out-stretched arm. He turned his head to her and kissed her, slowly and sensually, reigniting the fire in her that he started the previous night. Under the water, his hand rested on her knee and slowly wandered its way up her thigh.

"Stop it, it's too early, I'm too 'hungover', and we're in public."

"I woke up thinking of doing this to you, and I can't deny that it's one hell of a way to wake up."

"Oh stop it, Boyd, we're in a public jacuzzi."

"There's hardly anyone around, and no one can see what I'm doing under the water." As he spoke,his hand reached its target, he pushed her swimming costume to one side and his fingers began to gently massage her intimately. He felt a hand over the top of his as she pushed him away.

"Room for a little one?" a voice asked, he looked up to see Martin from the beach yesterday stepping into the jacuzzi.

Boyd's frustration was growing by the minute, and he was sure if he couldn't get some undisturbed time alone with her soon, he would implode from the unreleased pressure weighing down on him. At his age he wasn't a man who indulged in relieving himself of such feelings, but he may have to make exceptions if things didn't get resolved soon.

- o0o -

Eve managed to shower and look vaguely human by the time the conference started that day, and sat and listened to a Dr James Collins, a friend of hers who was giving a presentation on geographical profiling. They had met at a previous conference, and had stayed in contact afterwards.

She introduced him to Boyd and Grace, and they all sat together for the remainder of the morning's presentations, much to Boyd's further irritation. By the time they broke for lunch, he was grinding his teeth and constantly tugging on his well groomed goatee beard, a sure sign that he was wound up.

There was a break from the proceedings after a lunch, to allow people to unwind and discuss the mornings presentations. It was also a well researched and known fact that people did not retain as much information after a heavy lunch, so giving them time to digest their lunch and mingle with each other made sense.

Once again, several gentlemen made a beeline for Grace, still eager to discuss points she'd made the previous day. One of them in particular, a Superintendent David _'Jock'_ Scott, was particularly hard to get rid of, and seemed to monopolise her time. Boyd knew him, and surprisingly for Boyd, didn't like him very much.

Eventually he got fed up waiting for this man to leave her alone, and with a slightly jealous pang, he approached her and said he needed to speak with her on a work related matter. Grace knew he was lying, they had no pressing cases at the moment, and other than Eve, who was with them, no one would be given any information regarding a new case on the weekend.

He escorted her away, almost as though she were in his custody, walking past anyone who tried to stop them on the way. He walked down a corridor that seemed to lead to nowhere, at the end of which was a door. He looked behind him to see that they were alone, and then opened the door, pulling her in with him.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting you alone, before I go insane."

"Boyd, it's a cupboard, a cleaning cupboard at that."

"I know, but it's empty, and who's going to look for you in here?"

"Well no one, but that's not the point, I'm not a bloody teenager who's going to let you have a quick fumble in a cupboard."

He pushed her against a waist high filing cabinet and started to kiss her neck. She didn't stop him, she enjoyed it too much for that. "My God, I want you," he said, removing his lips from her neck just long enough to say the words.

"I know you do, and I feel the same, but I'm not going to do it in a cupboard."

"Did you say 'do it'?" he said with laughter. "I thought you weren't a teenager?"

Grace laughed back at him, "Okay, so I'm not a teenager, and I should use more grown up words than 'do it', but I'm still not going to have sex with you in a cupboard, surrounded by bottles of disinfectant and bleach."

"At least it's hygienic."

Just then the door to the cleaning cupboard opened and a maid came in. "I'm sorry, you're not allowed in here," she said in broken English.

"I'm sorry, we got lost," Grace said, walking past her with an embarrassed tint to her skin.

"What is it with this bloody hotel? It's impossible to be alone!"

"It's a conference, Boyd, not a dirty weekend away."

"Mores the pity," he said under his breath.

- o0o -

The rest of the day went by without embarrassing incidents, and at dinner they were joined by Eve and her friend James on their table. Unfortunately, they were also joined by Jock and Martin, two of Grace's groupies, as Boyd now referred to them. He managed to get through dinner without throttling either of them, and after dinner managed to spirit Grace away from them again.

This time he didn't risk the beach, the previous nights events still fresh in his mind. So they walked along the pier, he tried to hold her hand, but she pulled away. Brighton was full of delegates from the Met police and home office, and she didn't want the rumour mill to start working overtime before anything had even really happened, and after all, so far all they'd managed was a kiss and a grope.

They stood at the end of the pier looking out at the sea, it was later than the previous evening, around 9pm, and it was quiet on the pier, so Boyd risked standing behind her and putting his arms around her waist. This time she didn't brush him off, she gently leant back against him, the feeling of his arms around her was pleasant and reassuring. His arms were strong, and she felt safe and secure with him, as though nothing else mattered. The pier they stood on could come crashing down around them and she wouldn't care, because Boyd was with her, and when he was with her, nothing could hurt her.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her.

"Nothing really, just how nice this feels."

"Really?" he asked her. She turned in his arms so that she was facing him.

"Yes really, I want to be with you as much as you say you want to be with me."

As they stood on the end of the pier kissing, a familiar voice spoke behind them.

"Hey look, lads, Grandpa's back with his bird."

"Don't rise to it, Boyd, let's just go back to the hotel."

"Under the thumb, are you, Grandpa?" he said. This time the main instigator was on a bike, cycling round as he threw his insults at them.

"Do you know what? I'd do anything she asked me too, but you wouldn't understand that you little scrote."

"Ooh, kinky."

"I suggest you and you're little Chav friends go and find someone else to insult, because me and the lady are going back to our hotel."

"Lady? That's a bit much, ain't it? She looks like a five quid a go hooker."

"You little bastard." Boyd went to grab him but he was too quick, they were gone as quickly as they'd arrived.

"Just ignore them, let's get back it's getting cold out here anyway."

"Yeah, you okay?"

"Yeah, it'll take more than a few mouthy teenagers to upset me, especially when I have you with me."

"You getting soppy, Dr Foley?"

"For your ears only, Superintendent." She linked her arm through his and walked back to the hotel, happy in his company.

As the lift doors closed, he turned and kissed her. "Do you think we could arrange for this lift to get stuck between floors for a while?"

"I thought you were claustrophobic?"

"Yeah, but if I had something to take my mind off the enclosed space, it probably wouldn't bother me as much"

"And what do you suppose might take your mind off it?"

"I don't know, but I reckon if you let me into your room, we could explore the options, being as I don't know how to break this lift."

"Well I'm quite glad you don't know how to break the lift, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in a little journey of exploration with you." She stepped forward tantalisingly and kissed him seductively, just before the lift doors opened. They walked out of the lift with a faster pace than when they had got into it, but as they rounded the corner to the corridor that their rooms were on, they instantly saw Eve sat on the floor outside Grace's room.

"Hi, have you had a nice evening?"

"Yeah, we just went for a walk after dinner."

"They still have no rooms available, so I was wondering if I could be cheeky and sleep on the couch in yours, to save me going somewhere else."

"Yeah sure, it's no problem," she lied.

Boyd walked straight past them. "I'll say goodnight then ladies." Grace was sure she could still hear his teeth grinding when he was inside his room with the door shut.

"Oh God, have I spoiled your plans?"

"No, we didn't have plans, it's no problem, honest."

"Boyd's face said otherwise, but I'll believe you. Thanks, Grace."

"You're welcome."

The two of them shared a bottle of wine, but didn't drink as much as they had the previous evening. They were both going home the next day, and travelling with a hangover was not a good idea.

- o0o -

The following morning they packed and were ready to leave by 9am. Boyd had vacated his room just before them and knocked on Grace's door to help her with her case.

As she wasn't even checked in, Eve left just before them, leaving them alone in the room for five minutes.

Grace was quite surprised that he didn't even try to kiss her, or make any physical contact, and was starting to wonder if for him it was just about the weekend.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked her.

"Yep," she replied, trying to remain upbeat, even though she felt a little rejected.

He wheeled her suitcase and carried his own down to the lift. Grace stood quietly in the lift, and when the doors opened, she went to step out before noticing that the lift was not on the ground floor. She tried to get back in, but Boyd was out of the lift and walking down the corridor.

"Boyd, it's the wrong floor," she called after him, but he continued, despite her shouts. She got out of the lift and followed him, eventually catching up with him. "What are you doing?"

Boyd stopped at a hotel door. "This, Dr Foley, is the Napoleon Suite, and it's ours for the next two nights. Two nights of uninterrupted luxury and pleasure."

"What are you talking about?"

"I booked it. I figured if I couldn't get you alone during the conference, I'd wait till after."

"Are you serious?"

"Completely and utterly, and this is the most important part of this suite." He removed the 'do not disturb' sign from the inside of the room and placed it on the outside. Picking her up he carried her into the room, closing the door with his foot, he gently laid her on the bed, much to her amusement.

Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading.


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